Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Happy Deepavali!

Deepavali always reminds me of my high school best friend, Santa. I found this photo of us when we were 14 years old.

Unfortunately, we have lost touch. I remembered her mother was an excellent cook. Santa has 6 sisters and no brothers. I used to spend my school holidays in her home and her mum will make me tosai and chicken masala when I was there because she knew I love it. During my working days as a Secretary to the Managing Director with a French company, I used to wear sari to work quite often. I had five sets of sari of various colors. To me, sari is one of the most elegant attire for a woman. Ladies who would like to know how to tie a sari, click on the pic and it will bring you to a video tutorial which is very easy to follow.

Today is Deepavali and I wish to dedicate this chicken masala which I cooked some time ago, but did not post it yet, to all my Hindu friends and readers. I wish you all a Very Happy Deepavali.

Skewers, If using wooden skewers completely submerge them in water for approx. 30 minutes. This will hinder them from catching fire while grilling.

Tomato Gravy:

250g canned cocktail tomatoes

250g heavy cream

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 red chilies, finely chopped

2 ts ground cumin

2 tsp paprika powder

1 tbs ghee or clarified butter

Salt and pepper

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade in a large bowl. Thoroughly mix until the chicken is nicely coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

On the next day, either prepare your charcoal grill or heat up the grill function of your oven to high.

Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, discarding the marinade. Grill the chicken evenly on all sides, until juices run clear – approx. 5-6 minutes.

To prepare the gravy, heat a sauce pan to medium and melt the ghee/clarified butter. Sauté the garlic and chopped chilies, curry leaves and onions until fragrant. Sprinkle the ground cumin, paprika powder and a pinch of salt. Sauté for a further minute or two until the mixture turns into a paste-like texture.

Pour in the canned tomatoes, scraping the bottom of the skillet to deglaze it and to release any bits stuck to the pan. Simmer uncovered for approx. 10-15 minutes on low heat until the sauces begins to thicken, then add the grilled chicken pieces and cream. Simmer for a further 10 minutes, thickening the sauce further. Pour sauce over grilled chicken pieces.

60 comments:

I made chicken tikka masala recently for the first time, its great. Your version looks redder, brighter and more delicious. I will save this recipe. BTW, Santa reminds you of Diwali but it reminds me of Christmas:)

what a beautiful dish and the photo is as well.We just talked about sari's yesterday.My dearest friend had her sari's made in india and then had them shipped here to Canada, I remember the excitement of opening those boxes of rainbow colored fabrics, just amazingly beautiful cloth to enhance a womans beauty.I agree such a beautiful way for a woman to clothe herself.This is a great recipe, makes my mouth water, thankyou for posting this, yum!

I am sure that a sari is very elegant, certainly when you have the taile as the model in the picture. In the indian kitchen, and we had it last week, I prefer the lam but your chicken also looks very good.

I love tikka masala.And I think sari is so elegant.Always happy colours:)It also wanted to say that you should definitely enter one of yoyr chilli recepies with MZ Helen Country Cottage..cook off:)You can enter here: http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/2011/10/texas-star-chili-cook-off-2011.htmlCheers

Hi Quay Po. I love sari too. What a beautiful elegant attire!! My husband and I love chicken tikka masala but I never attempt at home. And the last chicken tikka masala we had was in Kuala Lumpur, 5 years ago. I think I 'll try with your recipe.:-) They look soooo delicious.

Veronica-Your chicken tikka masala, is a work of art...and a labor of LOVE!I hope, one day soon, you can reconnect with your friend from the past.Thanks for sharing...yet, one of your amazing recipes! Photos are superb, as always:DDHugs to you, my dear friend!

Hmmm....I would love to try this recipe one day becos I love spicy food. Thanks for sharing! :-)

P/S: Just a cookery question to ask you: sometimes I see some masala recipes indicating the use of garam masala, yet I don't seem to see garam masala being sold in shops unlike curry powder, chilli powder, etc. Where can I buy garam masala? Please advise. Hehehe.... I may be 'blind' when shopping for such spice ingredients.

Oh my gosh... This is a seriously fantastic blog you've got going on! So happy to come across your blog. Going to be fun browsing through your previous recipes and also looking forward to your new ones. Happy blogging! =)

@FilipI don't eat lamb but I will try making this with lamb for my Quay Lo and my son.

@ZoeThanks. I drool at your space a lot so I can relate to that.

@Kak LoveOh yes, when hubby is not with you on festive season, it kind of different isn't it? But then, I am sure are happy when you see your kids enjoyed themselves. I wish I will connect with Santa one day too.

@Susan and AbrahamThanks for your visit and I hope to see you more often. Glad you enjoyed your time here.

@WinstonThanks and welcome. See you around.

@suituapuiI saw your comment in my email but how come cannot see it here? Did you deleted it? hahah, if yes why lah? There is nothing wrong with your comment. I was about to put up the picture of me wearing the sari. Since you are no more interested, no need lah. The truth is I couldn't find those photos. LOL!

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A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.

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